Two major earthquakes that struck far apart from each other 13 years ago, have brought two distant countries — Taiwan and Turkey — together on the path of humanitarian aid.
“I was certain that my house was going to collapse,” Turkey-based Taiwanese businessman Faisal Hu (胡光中) said of the night of Aug. 17, 1999, when a magnitude 7.6 earthquake hit Turkey, claiming tens of thousands of lives.
Rescue teams from all over the world rushed to Turkey to help save those trapped under the rubble. However, Hu said a feeling of resentment began to grow in his heart when days passed and there were no reports of Taiwanese aid coming.
Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Hu, a Muslim, said he later learned that the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, one of Taiwan’s largest charity groups, had sent a disaster assessment team from Kosovo to Turkey to assist with disaster relief on the day after the earthquake.
Tzu Chi had donated prefabricated houses and 200 tents to the earthquake victims in Turkey, said Ferhan Merter, a member of Turkish charity Kimse Yok Mu. Merter had assisted Tzu Chi in their earthquake relief at that time.
He said in a recent interview in Istanbul that the two charities had since enjoyed close ties, visiting and learning from each other.
Just close to one month after the earthquake in Turkey, Taiwan suffered one of its deadliest temblors on Sept. 21, which left more than 2,400 people dead.
The Taiwanese volunteers in Turkey faced a difficult decision — stay in Turkey or go back to Taiwan, but they eventually decided to stay, Hu said.
The news was covered by Turkish daily newspaper Zaman, which said the volunteers who stayed in Turkey despite their own disaster back home were carrying out “true humanitarian aid.”
Because of the experience it gained from the disaster relief work in Turkey, Tzu Chi was able to make a speedy entry into the disaster zones in Taiwan after the Sept. 21 quake and set up prefabricated houses in a short time, Hu said.
A rescue team composed of members of the Turkish government and volunteer search and rescue association AKUT also flew to Taiwan after the quake to assist with search and rescue work, he added, calling it “a circulation of goodwill.”
“It doesn’t matter if you come to Turkey, we go there [Taiwan], it’s like paying back to the community of the world,” said Cilasun Bayulgen, director of technical training at rescue group AKUT.
Bayulgen was in Taiwan as a rescuer after the Sept. 21 earthquake.
That bond continues. Years later, Merter said, Kimse Yok Mu donated US$50,000 to help the victims of the 2009 flooding in Taiwan caused by Typhoon Morakot.
Hu said 817 and 921 were two previously unrelated set of numbers, but they have now connected the people of Taiwan and Turkey.
A fourth public debate was held today about restarting the recently decommissioned Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, ahead of a referendum on the controversial issue to be held in less than two weeks. A referendum on Aug. 23 is to ask voters if they agree that “the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant should continue operations upon approval by the competent authority and confirmation that there are no safety concerns.” Anyone over 18 years of age can vote in the referendum. The vote comes just three months after its final reactor shut down, officially making Taiwan nuclear-free. Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) represented
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
‘ANGRY’: Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of ‘the people of the Republic of China’ experienced disqualified Lai from being president, Ma Ying-jeou said Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II. Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis
RSS